Honda calls for ADR/EU alignment

HONDA Australia senior director Lindsay Smalley has called on the Australian government to bring Australian Design Rules (ADRs) into line with European regulations.

Mr Smalley said several current ADRs added unnecessary complexity and cost, ultimately paid for by the new-car buyer.

He suggested that much of the necessary ADR work was not needed, especially when manufacturers had already engineered their vehicles to meet or exceed virtually identical standards under European crash and/or safety regulations.

Two areas he singled out were front three-quarter crash regulations and child-seat belt anchorage mechanisms.

“The industry has been pushing very hard for the Australian government to harmonise all regulations for European regs,” Mr Smalley said.

“In the last 12 months there have been a bundle of small inconsequential regulations that have been bundled together.

“We urge the government and the bureaucracy to work closely together with their engineering partners in Europe.

“What is happening is that the costs for compliance, particularly for ADRs, is passed on to the consumer.

Left: Honda Australia senior director Lindsay Smalley.

“I’m sure the European community is just as focussed on a positive safety outcome as Canberra.”

Meanwhile, Mr Smalley says his company will not follow Honda UK’s lead in offering limited finance repayment protection against income loss for buyers of some Honda models.

“We won’t be doing that,” he said. “I think there are set of issues in Europe compared to Australia, especially in the UK.”

Honda UK announced last week that it has started “free payment protection against redundancy” on selected Civics and CR-Vs bought through its finance arm from the beginning of April this year.

The program means Honda will make monthly repayments for up to one year if these buyers lose their income for more than three months.